The rupee on Wednesday surged by 20 paise to nearly three-week high of 46.30/31 against the US currency with dollar plunging to 15-month low against its European rivals in overseas markets.

Dealers at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market said the rupee drew support mainly from weakness in dollar against a basket of currencies. The dollar fell to a 15-month low after indications that US interest rates will remain near zero for some time.

They said a rally in equity markets on the back of sustained capital inflows also helped the domestic unit to gain against the US currency.

The Indian benchmark Sensex today shot up 409 points or 2.49 per cent, while Asian indices closed in the positive terrain.

Rupee had surged by 2.0 per cent since November 4 but took a brief pause yesterday easing by five paise in line with downward correction in local stocks.

The domestic unit rallied smartly after resuming steady at its previous closing level of 46.50/51 a dollar.

Meanwhile, India's exports fell 11.4 per cent to USD 12.5 billion in October 2009 amid reports that the government has finalised sweeping changes to the country's foreign direct investment (FDI) policy.